Sharing database with group

[BevNap]

We have a small lake association. We are looking for solution for tracking dues paid and member information. Is it possible with the iCloud syncing to share the same database with multiple people? We are also wondering if we should start on a Mac or iPad as our setup device.

Any help for best practices would be appreciated!
I’ve read lots of great things about your program so far!
Bev N.

[Brendan]

Hi Bev,

iCloud syncing is designed to work with the same iCloud account across all devices. That means, contacts, calendar appointments, reminders, and any app that uses iCloud would all sync across devices. That may not be what you want if you’re trying to share a database with multiple different people.

So essentially, yes, you can sync Tap Forms across different devices, but generally those devices would all belong to the same person. I.e. your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. But introducing other users into the equation complicates things. Tap Forms was designed as a single-user database app. Perhaps what you may be requiring is FileMaker Server or something like that which was designed as a multi-user system.

Having said that, Tap Forms does have the ability to import and export data from a CSV file. So you can share your data that way. And if you turn on the feature to export Record IDs in Tap Forms, when you import that file, Tap Forms will perform an update on the data if it matches on the other device. New data will be inserted into the other device during the import process.

Thanks!

Brendan

[BevNap]

Brendan
Thank you for the response – that’s what i was afraid of. This is very small (not very tech savvy) group. Are there big differences between functions available on the Mac vs iPad? Since it looks like we’ll have one device setup.

Thanks again!
Bev

[Brendan]

Hi Bev,

The Mac version has more capabilities in the printing area. You can print a list of records in table view format or in detail view format. The iPad version can only print one detail view record at a time. On the other hand, the iPad version can record audio and has the drawing field. On the Mac version you can listen to the audio recordings made on the iOS versions and you can view the drawings made on the iOS versions.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Faith Shabat]

Hi,
I was wondering if the updated version of Tapforms enables you to share with another person. What about if I sign into the other person’s iPad, buy Tapforms as if it’s my device. Will that work?
Thanx for your answer.
Faith

[Brendan]

Hi Faith,

iCloud sync will require all devices to be connected to the same iCloud Apple ID account. It doesn’t matter which account purchased the app on the device.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Patrice Hof]

Hi,
I suggest to use the backup & restore function tu share the DB between few users.

1. Create the DB on the mac (easier than ipad on my point of view)
2. Backup the DB on a shared server (e.g. dropbox)
3. Restore the DB on another device

You should repeat step 2 and 3 each time you use TF.

In my opinion, this is better than csv export/import, since you can also share the media attached to your records.

Limitations:
In order to restore the DB on an ipad/iphone, the backup should be located in the specific ~/dropbox/Tap forms/Backups. So you have to move it from the shared folder to this specific dropbox folder before restoring it. It requires a little gymnastic, but you also try to automatise folder sync.

Be careful with the simultaneous modification of several users!

It was my suggestion. Does Brendan agree?

[Brendan]

Hi Patrice,

Sure, this is a way to do it also. But it’s not practical if multiple users need to edit the data on different devices. But it’s fine if you have a master database that you want to distribute to other users.

Thanks,

Brendan

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